President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of December 4 with Dr. J. Sam Armijo, former Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. In addition to welcoming Dr. Armijo to Taiwan to attend a forum on Spent Fuel Management and the Future of Nuclear Energy, the president also elaborated on Taiwan's nuclear energy policy, stressing that the government will continue pursuing an appropriate energy mix.
In remarks, President Ma stated that countries throughout the world have placed importance in recent years on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have both advocated diverse and pragmatic methods to reduce carbon emissions, he said, adding that the generation of nuclear energy is one of these means. The president noted that the IPCC has expressly indicated that nuclear power is an effective option for reducing carbon emissions.
As for the state of nuclear power generation in Taiwan, President Ma explained to Dr. Armijo that Taiwan relies on imports for 98% of its energy needs, so it is important that Taiwan have stable energy sources to underpin national security and its economic development. The president noted that nuclear power accounts for 18.8% of the electricity generated in Taiwan, and is an important option as Taiwan considers how to develop low-carbon energy sources and diversify its energy mix. He indicated that the cost per kilowatt hour of nuclear energy here is US$0.023, making it the cheapest method of power generation. In addition, statistics show that Taiwan's First Nuclear Power Plant contributed about US$32 billion to the national coffers from 1978 through 2012. The facility has also provided long-term, stable, and inexpensive electricity, making Taiwan's industry more internationally competitive.
With respect to nuclear energy safety, the president stated, Taiwan has three nuclear power plants in operation and all are running under the strictest safety guidelines. Over the past three years, he said, Taiwan's nuclear power plants have had among the best safety records in the world. According to a unit capacity factor ranking by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of nuclear power plants in 31 countries, Taiwan ranked sixth, he remarked, ahead of the United States, South Korea, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan. This highlights that the international community recognizes Taiwan's excellent nuclear energy safeguards, the president commented.
President Ma emphasized that the government here has consistently maintained that there can be no nuclear power unless there is nuclear safety, and that after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan three years ago we immediately undertook the strictest safety inspections possible at all of Taiwan's nuclear power plants. He further stated that Taiwan has adopted nuclear standards used by the European Union, Japan, and the United States to strengthen its own safety standards, thereby ensuring that all of its nuclear power plants can withstand multiple simultaneous disasters. As for the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, President Ma mentioned, the Ministry of Economic Affairs on July 30 of this year convened a conference focusing on the conclusions of safety inspections at the nation's newest nuclear power facility. At that meeting it was confirmed that after inspections, the functionality of 126 systems in the first unit all conformed to safety specifications, he stated.
Commenting on the handling of nuclear waste, President Ma remarked that Taiwan's nuclear waste management policy is the same as that of most other nations that generate nuclear power. Under these standards, he said, waste is stored short-term in spent fuel pools on-site, while dry storage is used for the medium term and final disposal for the long term. At the same time, the president noted, when Taiwan looks at the feasibility of disposing of nuclear waste overseas, it complies with Taiwan's peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement with the US and the IAEA.
President Ma said that the issue of nuclear waste will take a long time to resolve, but from the standpoint of generational justice, our generation must actively address this issue. Taiwan has made comprehensive plans for the handling of nuclear waste and is carrying it out step by step, but this is not purely a question of technology and safety; rather, he said, better communication is needed to forge a public consensus on the issue.
Commenting on future plans for Taiwan's nuclear power plants, President Ma stated that the government announced the New Energy Policy of Taiwan after the Fukushima nuclear accident. This policy is guided by the three major principles of "no power rationing, maintaining reasonable power prices, and making good on our pledges to the international community to reduce carbon emissions." The ultimate objective, he said, is to "ensure nuclear safety, gradually reduce reliance on nuclear power, and create a green power and low-carbon environment to become a nuclear-free country step by step." But due to a lack of consensus on whether the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant can be operated safely, the president remarked, the government in April of this year decided to mothball the plant after safety inspections and hold a public referendum to determine whether it will be commissioned at some future point.
Looking back on how nations around the world responded after the Fukushima nuclear accident, President Ma said that Japan immediately announced the halt of 48 nuclear plants around the country, while Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland each announced that they would gradually abandon nuclear power over the coming 11 to 23 years. The president noted that other nations have decided to maintain the use of nuclear power, but are considerably strengthening nuclear safety measures. He added, however, that three years after the disaster, Japan has now reversed its decision to abandon nuclear power, and some oil producing nations have even begun building nuclear power plants due to fears that petroleum fuels will become depleted. Quite a few nations still include nuclear energy in their energy mix, and advocate neither total reliance on, nor total abandonment of, nuclear power, he said. President Ma stated that Taiwan's nuclear policy falls into this latter category, commenting that the government will continue seeking the most appropriate energy mix for Taiwan.
Among others at the meeting were US Electric Power Research Institute Senior Technical Executive Albert Machiels, International Director of the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency Gerald Ouzounian, and US Argonne National Laboratory Distinguished Fellow Dr. Yoon Il Chang.